1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a reusable portable flexible fillable barrier that is especially suited for controlling free flow of fluids and that uses a flexible fillable wall as a basic element. The method of application of the portable flexible fillable barrier is also discussed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A wide variety of inventions and innovations in the past have been related to conservation and preservation of water, a necessity of life. In some areas of the world, water is a rarity. In contrast, in some areas continuous heavy rains can overwhelm the water containment and barrier systems, causing flooding situations that can result in huge losses of life and property. Although some areas may have sufficient yearly rainfall, a lack of balance in the availability of water throughout the year creates the need to collect and store water during the rainy seasons for use in the dry seasons.
For many years, sandbags have been commonly used to construct a temporary dam, barrier or wall for containing and restraining flood waters. Massive quantities of filler material and intensive manpower are required for the application of sandbags. Filled sandbags must be stored or sand must be kept in close proximity or carried to the flood site for the filling of the bags. Any other material that can satisfy the task of sand in sandbags may also be used. Once the bags are filled, they must be transported from the site of filling the bags to where they are to be used. Since filling the bags and transporting the sandbags requires a considerable amount of time and labor, the rate of application of sandbags to restrain the flood waters may be very slow depending upon the number of individuals available. Sandbags also absorb the fluid which they contain and, as a result, can retain pollutants or other harmful or toxic substances.
The need to control, balance and manage the water supply and resources more efficiently and safely, has resulted in the development of many devices including collapsible, self-expanding fluid containers. In most of such collapsible, self-expanding fluid containers, a flexible, resilient structural member provides a static configuration to the device but can be collapsed to create a compact size for storage purposes. However, the portability and ease of assemblage of the existing collapsible, self-expanding fluid containers leave much to be desired.
Many existing collapsible, self-expanding fluid containers may also be used for containment of other fluids, such as oil and hazardous fluids. However, most existing containers require excessive handling in being set up, endangering the individuals who are in the proximity of the container.
As examples, several patents that have been issued in the past decade and are focused on numerous devices that are used for flood control follow:
Coffey, U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,373, issued on May 1, 1990, patents a barrier for containing floods and comprising a flexible container with a high point vent, a low point drain and a frame that has a plurality of legs and that supports the flexible container. Although a series of individual frames and flexible containers can be interlocked to form a barrier which can be used as a dam structure, labor is involved in setting up the supports and fastening them in place and in disassembling the supports. In addition, the legs of the frame are solid and, thus, take up space and have weight that has to be transported.
Hendrix, U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,919, issued on Aug. 20, 1991, patents a device for controlling floods or spilled fluids. The device comprises an elongated, triangular flexible container, a spout for flow of water into the container, a front flap for anchoring the container and end pieces for sealing the end of the container. These devices are more easily and more efficiently transported and installed than other existing related inventions. However, these devices cannot be readily attached to one another to form a system, with a capacity that can be adjusted and varied without creating any disconnections in the liquid flow, in which the collected liquid passes continually from within one device into another device.
Bayer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,358, issued on Mar. 17, 1987, patents a flood water containment bag constructed of light-weight, inexpensive, porous, water-absorbing material. By absorbing water, the bag increases in weight and volume and expands to form a water barrier. Horizontally-arranged bags can be attached to one another by fastening strips to the top and bottom surfaces of the bags. Although the bags are more easily transported and installed and are less expensive than other related patented inventions, drying, storage and disposal of the bags after absorption of water may create problems, the permeability of the bags may result in some leakage.
The above-listed patents and many other similar inventions have been developed, some of which still exist in the market. However, the conventional procedure still being used is the application of sandbags by manually placing the sandbags to form a barrier. The sandbags are still either filled on the flood site or transported in filled condition on trucks to the flood site. Even if the sandbags are prefilled and transported to the site of use, the sandbags are ultimately being manually lifted and placed in position to form the desired barrier to effectively block or contain flood waters. Furthermore, sandbags often fail to contain flood waters and are washed away. Also, the amount of water that leaks through the sandbags renders the sandbags ineffective as an acceptable total and reliable solution.
The patents and innovations in the market have been usually oriented towards developing individual containers that have a set capacity for collecting a fluid and that mostly lack any flexibility in the amount of collected fluid. In addition, most of the past inventions are constructed of relatively heavy and expensive components, are relatively expensive and time-consuming to manufacture, are not simply and efficiently transported and installed, necessitate numerous man-hours of labor for storage, transportation, installation and disassembly and require a large amount of space for storage and transportation. Thus, even if any past or existing inventions have had been or are presently being marketed, such inventions have had a low efficiency of performance due to some of the following features: relatively expensive, difficult and time-consuming production, storage, transportation, installation, disassembly and after-use handling. The goal of this invention is to provide a reliable, safe and efficient flood containment device. This invention strives towards lowering the costs of manufacture and of material needed for the manufacture of the system, simplifying and increasing the efficiency of transportation and installation of the system, decreasing the required man-hours of labor, particularly for storage, transportation, installation and disassembly, of the system, minimizing the required amount of contact of an individual with the collectible fluid during installation and disassembly of the system and decreasing the amount of space needed for storage and transportation of the system.